Manga On Fire
by FarnesyFudge
Summary: Patricia Martin is a Special Operative sent by a secret organisation of otakus to watch over and safeguard Hiyori Tamura. What could possibly go wrong? A one-shot written at the request of an anonymous reviewer. (Formerly 'The Famous Shooter')


_Italics=English_

* * *

**Task Force 117 Operative Profile:**

Operative Number: 141

Callsign: The Babysitter; aka Sitter

Gender: Female

Date of Birth: April 16 1991

Nationality: American (USA)

Height: 5'6

Blood Type: O

Preferred Firearm: ČZ 100

Current Location: Kasukabe City, Saitama Province, Japan

Name: Patricia Martin

* * *

"I just don't know what's wrong with me, those are terrible!" Hiyori lamented as her friends looked over some of her recent artwork. Yutaka and Minami seemed to silently agree, though they were too polite to comment. Patricia, on the other hand, was quick to praise the aspiring artist.

"No way Hiyori-chan, these are way too cool!" Patricia said earnestly, shaking her head. "Your yuri stuff is always the best!"

"Stop, you're embarrassing me!" Hiyori said bashfully, grinning as she did so. They stood around for a while longer, talking amongst themselves. They were at school, lessons having only finished moments ago.

"I think it is time for us to start getting home." Minami said quietly.

"Yeah, it's getting kinda late now." Yutaka agreed. "Tamura-san, Patty-chan, I'll see you tomorrow, okay?" Yutaka and Minami fared their friends farewell before leaving together.

"Hiyori-chan, you wanna walked home together again today?" Patricia asked excitedly.

"Sure thing Patty-" Hiyori was cut off by Patricia's mobile phone going off.

"Oh, I got a text!" Patricia pulled out her phone and read the message; 'Code Fenix' was all it said. Patricia's brow furrowed.

"Is there something wrong, Patty-chan?" Hiyori asked, trying to look at her friends phone. Patricia snapped it shut.

"Darn it, my boss wants to see me tonight! Sorry Hiyori-chan, but I need to get going!" With that, Patricia grabbed her bag and ran out the door, leaving a rather disappointed Hiyori in her wake.

* * *

Once she'd gotten out of the school and found a relatively secluded spot, Patricia pulled out a tiny earpiece and slotted it into place, before also putting on a wrist band. "_Operative 141, reporting_." Patricia said cordially to her wristband. There was only static in her ear for a few moments.

"_Sitter, this is War_." A male voice came through the earpiece.

"_What do you need, 042?_" Patricia asked.

"_It concerns your charge, Tamura. This evening, it is believed that she will be visiting one of the more...underground manga stores. We need you to go with her and keep watch._" The man said in a formal tone.

"_With all due respect, 042, I could've gone with her straight from school if you hadn't called me away._" Patricia said, not bothering to hide her irritation.

"_Sitter, you are not to enter alongside Tamura. She'll need to be unaware of your presence. If someone inside sniffs you out and sees the two of you together, it could put Tamura in danger._" The man said in a more commanding tone.

"_Affirmative, sir._" Patricia let out a sigh.

"_This one came from the top, an assignment handed down to you from Operative 117. Reclaimer has put his faith in you. Don't let us down._" The feed cut off, leaving Patricia with nothing but static once again. She then received another text. Taking off the wristband and earpiece, Patricia read the text; an address for the store she'd be haunting tonight, as well as an ETA for Hiyori to arrive there. She decided to make her way home in order to get ready.

* * *

Patricia checked herself in a shop window one last time, making sure that her sidearm was not visible from the outside. It was sat in an underarm holster, easily hidden by the dark blue jacket she wore over her grey top. A pair of denim jeans completed her look; she was indistinguishable from the average high school girl. Patricia turned into the alleyway that the manga store was situated in, a dingy backstreet that was only frequented by those who knew what lie further down. As she made her way along, Patricia checked her watch. 7:58. She had been informed that Hiyori would be there around 8. Once she had found the entrance to the store she continued on to the end of the alleyway, which came to a dead-end just after a corner a short way from the store.

"_Perfect._ _Now I just need to wait here until Hiyori shows up._" Standing just around the corner, Patricia watched the entrance to the store as she waited. The entrance itself was a dark green plastic door, the kind you would see on a public restroom, with the word '_MANGA_' spelled out in cheap, pink neon lighting above the door.

After a few minutes of watch checking, Patricia spied her friend coming up the alley alone. Hiding full around the corner, Patricia waited until she heard the door open and close before looking again. Hiyori must have gone inside. After waiting a little longer, Paricia made her way up to the door. Steeling herself, she slowly opened the door, checking that Hiyori was not nearby before entering and taking in the sights. The store was larger than expected, with four aisles. The shelves were high enough that Patricia could not see over the top into the next aisle over. The shelves were lined with second rate manga and doujinshi, along with some anime VHS tapes and dvds. At the back of the store was a desk with a cash register on it, and a wooden door presumably leading to an office was behind that. The whole place was in ill repair, the paint on the walls was falling off and the carpet was pulling up in some places, plus there was a pervasive mouldy smell. Patricia noted that the lighting was not particularly good, and there was a noisy fan above the room; both of which could be used to conceal her from being seen or heard, at least somewhat.

Patricia crept up to the first aisle and peered down it from around the shelves. Hiyori was currently browsing, unaware she was being watched. It seemed as though Patricia and Hiyori were the only ones in the store, with no-one on the register and no cameras. Patricia found this to be rather odd, and hoped that Hiyori would hurry up and leave before something happened.

Hiyori moved through the shop, occasionally picking up a manga or doujinshi. Patricia continued to stake the store out, keeping an eye on Hiyori. Eventually, Hiyori made her way up to the register and rang a bell sat on the desk. After a moment, a fat, balding man walked out of the office and up to the desk. Hiyori awkwardly paid for her things, before leaving in a hurry.

"_She seemed kinda spooked. I hope she didn't see me._" Patricia took the time to more thoroughly check the stock now that Hiyori had left. It was mostly cheap knock-offs of better manga and doujinshi drawn by very amateurish hands, but there were a few decent pieces, mostly yuri and yaoi. Patricia hated crappy manga, and she hated when people sold doujinshi without crediting the the original creator. She decided to go up to the desk and call the man out.

"Not exactly much in the way of quality here." Patricia deadpanned to the man, who was dressed in a stained white vest and sweats.

"Piss off lady, I don't need no crap from you!" He said, showing off his mangled yellow teeth.

"Is this stuff even legal?" Patricia said, pointing back at the rows of comics.

"What, you gonna bring in the cops?" The man said as he began to make his way around the desk.

"Maybe." Patricia growled. She steadied herself as the man approached her.

"It don't matter, 'coz you ain't leaving now anyway!" The man gave a crooked smile before throwing a punch a Patricia. In the blink of an eye, Patricia grabbed his arm, twisted it around until he doubled over forward and then kneed him in the face. As the man stood up, holding his nose in pain, Patricia pulled her fist back, before giving him a haymaker square in the jaw. The man fell backwards, his head striking the desk along the way. Patricia shook her hand after the punch, regarding the unconscious man as he lay on the floor.

"_I think that's enough for one night._" Patricia said before turning to leave, though not before knocking most of the manga off of the shelves.

* * *

Patricia was sat at home that night when her phone got a text. It read 'Code Fenix'. Putting on her wristband and earpiece, Patricia waited.

"_Sitter, this is War, do you copy?_" The male voice spoke.

"_This is 141. I copy 042._" Patricia responded.

"_What is Tamura's status?_" He asked.

"_She safe. The store she went to, and it's owner, seemed kinda dodgy, but she's okay._"

"_Affirmative. Hmm...We'd gotten reports that the store had some shady connections._"

"_Wait, what the hell are you talking about Doug-uh, I mean, 042!_"

"_We've had reports of people, otaku, disappearing in that area. We suspected that store might've had something to do with it._"

"_There was a lot a crappy manga there, and a lot of doujinshi being sold._"

"_It's possible there's a connection between the store and the disappearances that we haven't found yet. We'll keep looking, War out._"

Patricia removed the earpiece and wristband. Disappearances from nearby a shop filled with knock-off manga and doujinshi that she'd never seen before; Patricia had a bad feeling about this. Despite her worries, Patricia made her way to bed and fell asleep.

* * *

The next day, Patricia went to school as usual. However, while both Minami and Yutaka were there, Hiyori was nowhere to be found.

"Tamura-san isn't here today!" Yutaka pointed out at lunch.

"Maybe she fell ill. It is getting cold now." Minami said quietly.

"I'm sure she's fine, she probably just stayed up too late drawing again." Patricia reassured her friends, but she couldn't reassure herself. It felt too coincidental that Hiyori would visit a hotspot for disappearances like that, and then not show up at school the next day. Something felt wrong, but she wouldn't know what until she could contact the Task Force.

The end of the day rolled around and Patricia bid her friends goodbye before heading home. Along the way she tried to call Hiyori's mobile, but she would only get a few rings before it would go to voicemail. It seemed that she was purposely ignoring the calls.

* * *

No sooner had Patricia stepped through her front door she got a text. She didn't read it, instead putting on her earpiece and wristband.

"_Sitter, we've got a problem._" Doug said, sounding worried.

"_Do you know what's happened to Hiyori? I didn't see her at school and she's not answering her phone._" Patricia's heart beat fast as she wondered what could've happened.

"_We were able to get some information out of the store owner last night; apparently he has connections to a manga ring. He ID's people for them to kidnap, then they put the people to work on manga and doujinshi that they sell at stores like his._"

"_Bastards...But Hiyori, did you find what happened to her?_" Patricia asked, not feeling like she wanted to know the answer.

"_This morning her parents reported her as missing. We also got the location of the manga rings hideout, where they likely keep all the people they kidnap. It seems most of the people they take are just otaku who visit the stores, but Hiyori is an artist. That's why she's so valuable to them. There's no telling what they'll do with her, so we need to move quick._"

"_Just give me the address for this hideout. I'll find it and bust Hiyori out, along with anyone else they've got holed up in there._" Patricia said, the determination clear in her voice.

"_Alright Patty, but it's going to be a while before we can get anyone else in there, so you may end up going solo._" Doug said somberly.

"_Hiyori needs my help; it's time to pull her ass outta the fire!_" Patricia took off her earpiece and wristband. She got out of her school uniform and got dressed in a nice suit, with sleek black trousers, a white button-up shirt, a black jacket and, of course, her underarm holster with her firearm. After making sure she had some extra ammunition, Patricia picked up her phone and checked the address for the hideout that Doug had sent her. She then grabbed a silencer, checked her equipment over once again, then quickly made her way out.

* * *

Patricia stood outside of an ominous looking building. It seemed to be a former office complex, three stories tall and looking quite decrepit. It was also very out of the way, on the outskirts of town. Pulling out the silencer, she affixed it to her weapon. Making her way around the outside of the building, she looked for a basement. Around the back she found a single door leading down. Fortunately, it was unlocked and there was no-one around. Opening the door, Patricia made her way inside and then quietly shut the door behind herself.

The basement was dimly lit, with only one light in the middle of the ceiling to illuminate a room the size of her classroom. Creeping forward, Patricia began to make her way across the basement, looking for a set of stairs. The floor was damp, with the smell of wet concrete permeating the air. There were planks of wood and sheets of metal, along with papers strewn all over the floor. The basement did not appear to be occupied, but Patrica could very faintly hear voices above her. She found a set of stair leading to an old wooden door, which likely led to the ground floor. If the voices she had heard were any indication, Patricia would have to deal with some resistance up there.

Walking up to the door, Patricia slowly turned the handle and opened it. Once again, she stepped through and then slowly shut the door behind herself. The area was mostly open, with desks scattered throughout and a reception area in the middle. Patricia could see four guys walking around, though they could not yet see her. They were all armed with machine pistols, MAC 10's and MAC 11's, most likely. All of them were dressed in tracksuits, looking more like Eastern European thugs than Japanese ones.

Not wanting to start a firefight just yet, Patricia took cover behind a desk nearby and watched as the guys walked about the room. They seemed to be patrolling, though they didn't seem to be paying much attention. Eventually, after a few minutes of wandering, one of them made his way towards Patricia. Once she was certain that the others weren't looking, she shot him in the back of the head with her silenced pistol. She grabbed his body just before it hit the ground and pushed it under one of the desks.

Patricia moved forward, trying to get a better shot on the next guy, who was more towards the centre of the room. After waiting for the other guys to move away, she shot the second guy in the back of the head and hid his body as best she could. She then made her way to the reception desk and hid behind it. The other two guys were so far unaware that their buddies were dead, but they were staying much closer together than the other two. Patricia tried to wait for them to move apart but to no avail.

She decided to shoot them one after the other, hoping to kill them before they got a shot off. She steadied herself on the large reception desk and waited for a good shot. As the two passed near to each other, Patricia decided it was as good a time as any. She shot the first guy in the side of the head. As his body fell down, the other guy looked toward him in shock. Time seemed to slow down for Patricia as she lined up the next shot. The guys eyes began to look over at Patricia as he started to raise his gun. In her adrenaline fueled state, Patricia moved the iron sights between his eyes and pulled the trigger before he could even open his mouth.

With everyone on the first floor dead save for her, Patricia began to head for the stairs. However, something on the desk caught her eye. A small white bottle of painkillers. They looked like strong stuff.

"_Finders keepers._" Patricia said to herself as she picked up the bottle and placed it in her pocket.

Carefully making her way up the stairs, Patricia peered into the next room. There were photocopiers scatter all around the room, along with some work cubicles and desks. There were six guys armed with machine pistols patrolling this room. Standing just behind the wall at the top of the stairs, Patricia leaned around and lined her first shot, easily killing one nearby goon with a shot to the side of the head. However, she forgot that his body would fall unhindered to the ground now that he was dead. Which it did, with a loud thud. One of the others looked over and saw his dead buddy as well as Patricia.

"Intruder!" He yelled at the top of his lungs before aiming his gun at Patricia.

"_Oh shit!_" Patricia cried before she hid back behind the wall. The goons opened fire, shots impacting the wall and flying through the doorframe. Patricia took a moment to unscrew the silencer from her firearm. After a few seconds of continues firing, the goons were all dry and moved to reload. They had not thought tactically about this, as Patricia burst from around the corner and began firing as she ran. Once again time seemed to dilate in her eyes, and she lined up shot after shot. They tried to run as they reloaded but to no avail. 1, 2, 3, 4 were taken down by super precise head shots before Patricia took cover behind a desk. The last one took cover in a cubicle, reaching over and firing with his machine pistol. Patricia knew he couldn't see her, so she ran up to his cubicle and dived past. As she flew through the air she fired a round that struck him in the chest, causing him to fall over. Patricia got up and walked back to the cubicle. The goon feebly tried to lift his gun, but Patricia simply shot him in the head, leaving him in a pool of his own blood.

Patricia heard footsteps from the stairs to the next floor, but before she could react a shot hit her in the back of the left shoulder. She let out a yell before falling down. Whoever had shot her tried again, opening fire as she fell and riddling her jacket with holes. Patricia hid behind a desk, reaching into her jacket and pulling out her painkillers. She there were only a few left, so she popped open the bottle and emptied it into her mouth. She pulled the magazine out of her firearm and saw she had just three rounds left in it. She could hear footsteps once again, so after taking a moment to compose herself she leapt up. The goons there were surprised as she ran back across the room, taking a moment to open fire as she put some distance between them. Once she was further away Patricia began firing as she ran. The first two shots missed but the third found it's mark. It struck one of the guys in the abdomen and made him fall over in pain.

Patricia took cover on the other side of the room behind a desk, reloading her now empty pistol. Her shoulder had began to numb as the painkillers started to kick in. Taking this as her cue, she popped up from behind the desk and fired at the first one she saw. They returned fire, forcing her back down, but not before she killed the first goon she had aimed for. She counted four left, including the one she had shot earlier. Once she heard a break in the firing she jumped out. The three currently standing were some what spread out, all a few feet from each other. One was reloading, so Patricia fire at him, hitting in the forehead and killing him. The others had already started shooting, so she went back down. Patricia wanted to end this now.

Crawling backwards a ways, Patricia readied herself on one knee. Counting up to three, she ran toward the desk, and used it as a springboard to leaped into the air. The goons were shocked as Patricia soared through the air, their shots way off the mark as they opened fire. Patricia unloaded her pistol at them, easily taking them both down. She hit the ground and immediately grabbed her shoulder, which flared up in pain. She took a moment to compose herself before she got to her feet and reloaded again. She walked towards the stairs, before remembering the other goon. Patricia turned around, spotted him rolling in agony on the floor nearby, and shot him, finishing him off. She then made her way up the stairs to the top floor. On the way up Patricia threw off her jacket. There was a huge red stain on her shirt around her shoulder, though it seemed the bleeding had stopped for the most part.

Taking a deep breath, Patricia walked into the room with her pistol already held up. She brandished it as she looked around. Sat on the floor, surrounded by paper and artistry supplies, was a group of at least ten people. They all looked fearfully up at Patricia as she walked in. It smelled of sweat and ink, and the prisoners all looked very dirty. Patricia looked at each of them, and they turned away under her gaze. However, none of them were Hiyori. Patricia began to panic.

"Where's Hiyori?" She said loudly to them. Suddenly, a girl screamed from the other end of the room. Patricia couldn't see very well in the dimly lit room, but she could make out two people running towards the stairs, one dragging the other. "Hiyori!" Patricia took a step towards the stairs that led to the roof, but stopped. She looked around at the prisoners on the floor. "All of you get out of here, the buildings clear!" She said to them. They all looked at each other. "Go!" Patricia made a gesture with her hands as though she were shooing away a dog. They all then stood up and began to run down the stairs.

Patricia made her way up the stairs towards the roof. Once up there she could see it was early evening. In the middle of the flat, open roof was another goon, holding a gun to Hiyori's head. "Let her go!" Patricia yelled at the man.

"Fuck you, I'm leaving with the girl!" He yelled back. "But if you're going to try something, I got no problem shooting her right now." Patricia couldn't get a good shot without risking hitting Hiyori. She didn't know what to do here.

Suddenly, the sound of a helicopter came over the roof. Everyone looked up as a helicopter flew over the roof. "What the fuc-" The man was cut off as he was shot between the eyes by a rifle, killing him dead. As his corpse fell down, Hiyori ran over to Patricia and embraced her.

"Oh my god, Patty! What are you doing here?!" Hiyori asked.

"I came to find you, Hiyori." Patricia said. Hiyori looked relieved as she rested her head of Patricia shoulder.

Behind them, the helicopter landed and a man in a very dapper black suit stepped out. He walked casually over to the girls. "Evening ladies, I trust you're doing well." He said in an American accent, but one that seemed to have been dulled by time in another country. He had short blonde hair and deep blue eyes. Patricia let out a gasp as she saw him up close.

"Operative 117! It's an honour to meet you sir!" Patricia gave a salute. He held out his hand to Patricia, who stared at it in wonder for a moment before she shook it. He then held out his hand to Hiyori.

"I don't believe we've met before, Tamura-san. I am Anthony Chamberlain." Hiyori shook his hand nervously.

"Uh, I'm Hiyori Tamura. Nice to meet you."

"The pleasure is all mine. Now ladies, if you wouldn't mind stepping onto the helicopter with me."

* * *

On board the helicopter, Anthony explained himself to Hiyori. "I am the head of Task Force 117, an organisation dedicated to the preservation of people such as yourself, and of the work you do."

"Why would you want to protect me and my work?" Hiyori asked.

"Because it falls to us to protect and preserve all things moe!" Anthony said. "We have many operatives here in Japan, such as your friend here." He gestured to Patricia, who was currently half-asleep in the seat next to Hiyori. "Most of us are Westerners; Americans, English, Canadians and the like, who appreciate the Japanese arts. However, we do have some natives among our ranks." Anthony look Hiyori in the eyes as he spoke. "What do you say to becoming Operative 458, Tamura-san?" Hiyori wanted to speak, but no words would come out, so she simply pointed to herself instead. Anthony nodded. Hiyori looked out of the window at the ground below.

"I...I don't know." Was all Hiyori could say.

"That's all right, you must need some time to reach a decision. We'll be able to get back in contact via The Babysitter." Hiyori gave him a confused look. "141's callsign." He explained.

"MY babysitter?" Hiyori asked as she looked over at Patricia. Anthony didn't respond but Hiyori got the implications. "All right, I'll think about it." Hiyori said as she turned back to Anthony.

"Good, we just need to get Patricia to a hospital to look at that wound, then we can get you home, Tamura-san."

* * *

"Tamura-san! What're you drawing?" Yutaka asked as she looked down at her friends paper. Minami joined her in looking at her friends art.

"It's a military insignia." Hiyori answered, continuing to draw.

"Which military?" Asked Minami.

"Mine." Hiyori said simply. Yutaka and Minami exchanged glances.

"Yours, Tamura-san?" Yutaka was confused.

"I think you mean 'Ours', Hiyori-chan." Patricia chided. Yutaka and Minami once again glanced at each other.

"Tamura-san and Patricia-san must be working on a manga with a fictional military in it." Minami reasoned to Yutaka.

"Oh! Minami-chan, you're so smart!" Yutaka said causing the taller girl to blush.

"I'm sure the guys would love to meet those two, they're just too cute!" Patricia said as she watched Yutaka and Minami walk away. "I'm sure they'd like to see that as well." Patricia gestured down to the insignia.

"Don't they already have one?" Hiyori asked. Patricia shook her head.

"Not all that many artists there, at least not any who ever bother to make one. We never needed it I suppose." Patricia reasoned. She then took a seat beside Hiyori.

"So how're you finding it partner?" She asked.

"Partner?" Hiyori asked.

"Yeah, The Babysitter and Dead or Alive; partners against crime." Patricia gave a laugh.

"What's with the goofy nicknames?" Hiyori groaned.

"They're our callsigns! Come on, I'm sure you'll learn to love it!" Hiyori looked at Patricia for momentarily before answering.

"I'm sure I will." She said quietly as she regarded her friend.

* * *

(**A/N:** Phew, that was one hell of a writing session. I woke up around 2am and checked to find that I'd gotten a review a few days ago by an anonymous reviewer on one of my stories. They asked me to try writing a one-shot about Patricia Martin being a 'secret agent'. After thinking about that, I decided to write a story about Patricia being an Intelligence Operative of sorts. And here I am, 7 whole hours of near continuous writing later.

I don't know why I put so many references in here, but I'll list them now so you guys don't miss out:

All of the Operatives numbers are serial numbers of Spartan 2's from the Halo series, specifically Douglas-042, John-117, Cal-141 and Nicole-458. All of the Callsigns are related to the Spartans: 'War' comes from 'Halo Wars', which Douglas-042 was in. 'Reclaimer' is what Guilty Spark 343 calls John-117. 'The Babysitter' is the name of the episode of 'Halo: Legends' which featured Cal-141. 'Dead or Alive' comes from 'Dead or Alive 4', which had Nicole-458 as an unlockable character.

The title of the story, 'The Famous Shooter', is also the name of episode 5 of 'Lucky Star'. I know Patricia isn't even in the series at that point, but I like to name my stories and drabbles after something related to the show, such as character songs or episode titles.

Next, the gun used by Patricia is a ČZ 100, a Czechoslovakian semi-automatic pistol that holds 13 9mm rounds, or 10 .40 rounds per magazine. This is actually the handgun used by Major Motoko Kusanagi in 'Ghost in the Shell'.

The character of Anthony M. Chamberlain is from the anime 'Doki Doki School Hours'. I don't know if he was in the manga, because he's only present in the 7 OVA episodes of the series. He's basically Patricia, except he's a dude. For the record, the first OVA episode of Doki Doki, and Anthony's first appearance, is a parody of the detective noir genre; basically the criminals smuggle manga, which is illegal in the parody, instead of drugs and whatnot. Just thought I'd bring that one up.

And the big one, this story was at least partly inspired by 'Max Payne 3', sort of my own parody. (I mean, this story wasn't really meant to be taken all that seriously. Come on, 'the manga ring', what the hell!) The biggest example is the big fight, where I drew inspiration from the level set in the Imperial Palace Hotel, and what Max finds in there, but telling you what it is might be spoilers! Of course, there's also the fact that Patricia dives around, uses bullet-time, and takes painkillers. I think I just wrote a better Max Payne story than the crappy Max Payne film did.

Anyways, I should probably stop writing now. I'm actually still sick, so I should lay down now. Thanks for reading, and thanks to anonymous for the suggestion, even if it wasn't really what you were expecting. I hope you guys enjoyed.)


End file.
